Ain't privatization grand?


LOCKHEED PENALIZED FOR FSS MISSTEPS

The FAA said Tuesday that it withheld $3 million in payments to
Flight Service Station contractor Lockheed Martin in the first
quarter because of poor performance. "There's evidence of dropped
calls and pilots not getting information," FAA Administrator
Marion
Blakey told Bloomberg

(http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...=azXMdeqKWXi0).
"There are penalties in the contract and we'll apply them." In
October 2005 Lockheed took over the 58 previously FAA-run FSS
facilities under a $1.7 billion award. Since the beginning of this
year pilots have complained about being on hold for extended times
while waiting for briefings -- in fact, several pilots recently
told AVweb that they had to wait on hold for an hour or more to
get a preflight weather briefing. FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto is
unsure if more penalties are in store for Lockheed Martin in the
second quarter, which is when pilot complaints have increased
sharply.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195366